


In Pack We Trust

by kiranightshade



Series: Steter Week 2020 [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Peter, Alternate Season/Series 01, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Derek Hale Uses His Words, M/M, Panic Attacks, Peter Hale uses his words, Platonic Cuddling, Pre-Slash, Scott being a headache, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Steter Week 2020, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Hale Pack, Stilinski Family Feels, Underage Drinking, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:21:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25635712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiranightshade/pseuds/kiranightshade
Summary: Stiles harbors Derek when he's on the run. They talk and they bond and then they find Peter.Stiles didn't expect to like Peter and he certainly didn't expect to join him.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Steter Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1851556
Comments: 14
Kudos: 770
Collections: Not to be misplaced, Steter Week 2020





	In Pack We Trust

Stiles is doing homework. Derek is sitting on the bed behind him, glowering. 

Stiles feels bad. 

“Look,” Stiles says, not really knowing where’s he’s going with this. “Scott is an idiot. I don’t know why he said it was you. I’m sorry. We’ll figure this out somehow.”

Derek doesn’t say anything. 

“I know we haven’t been the easiest to deal with, but misunderstandings aside, we want the same thing.” 

Derek scoffs.

“Hey! I want this alpha stopped as much as you do.”

“You want to go to a world where monsters like me don’t exist. I want justice for my alpha’s death and to not be hunted for sport. It is not the same thing.” 

“You don’t really think you’re a monster, do you?”

Derek looks at him funny. “Of course not.”

“Good,” Stiles says awkwardly, “Because you’re not.”

Derek sits on the bed. Stiles does his homework.

*** 

His dad is working late so Stiles makes tacos. Dinner with Derek is nice. He likes not being alone. Derek still isn’t talking, and Stiles really doesn’t do well with silence. 

“It won’t always be like this, right?” Stiles cringes the moment the words leave his mouth. “That didn’t come out right. I mean, the death and the hunters and crazy alphas? It’s not normal, right?”

Derek looks at him funny again. 

“Things aren’t supposed to be this crazy. Beacon Hills tends to attract the supernatural, but it’s always had a stable pack to keep things more or less peaceful.”

Derek grows even more sullen than usual and it doesn’t take a genius to see why. The Hale were that stable pack. Sties doesn’t know if this will help, but…

“Then a stable pack is what we need, or else things will just get worse.”

“Yeah.”

“Ok. Then let’s be pack. Unless there’s some rule about humans you haven’t told me about.” Stiles says with a look. 

“Humans are still pack.” Derek says like Stiles is an idiot. 

“Then we’ll be pack. You and me. Robin and Starfire.” 

Derek chokes on his taco. It takes a second for him to stop laughing long enough to say “Of all the superheroes—” before breaking into laughter again. 

“Dude,” Stiles says, trying to sound offended but only really sounding like he’s fighting not to laugh himself. “She’s a total badass, very pretty, and she’s powered by emotion.”

“I know. I’m just not sure why I remind you of her. I don’t exactly fit.”

Stiles doesn’t appreciate the self-deprecation in Derek’s tone at all. 

“Well I think it’s a perfect fit.”

*** 

Stiles doesn’t let Derek sleep in his desk chair again. Luckily, it’s not too difficult to drag him to his bed.

“Stiles,” Derek warns. 

“Don’t start. You’re going to mess up your back at this rate.” 

“I’m not sleeping with a sixteen-year-old boy.” 

Stiles rolls his eyes. “You make it sound so dirty. I think you can manage to sleep next to your own pack without traumatizing me.”

Derek lays down as far to the edge as he can get without falling off, and doesn’t say anything as Stiles dresses for bed and climbs over him to settle against the wall. Stiles looks at the tense lines of his shoulders, still fuully clothed complete with his leather jacket as he lays there.

“You can’t just joke about things like that.” Derek eventually says.

“Like what?”

“Like pack.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

Derek doesn’t say anything for a long while. The night gets darker until only shadows can be seen. Stiles falls asleep. 

It’s still dark out when he hears whining. It’s so quiet that he almost lets himself fall bask asleep but then he feels the blankets shift, and he opens his eyes. Derek is twitching in his sleep. The whining seems louder now that Stiles is paying proper attention, but it’s muted like he’s used to making himself small and invisible. Stiles sits up and sees that Derek’s claws are digging into the sheets and his face is scrunched up in pain. 

Stiles is used to nightmares, both his own and other people’s. He does what he used to do for his dad and carefully moves Derek so that his head is resting in his lap. Stiles hums softly as he cards his fingers through Derek’s hair. He doesn’t stop and, after an hour, Derek relaxes. A quick look at the alarm clock shows that it’s 2am. 

Stiles drifts back asleep like that, leaned back against the wall with Derek curled into his lap. He wakes up alone, tucked back into bed properly. 

*** 

Derek slams Stiles’ head into a steering wheel and it hurts. 

“Fuck! Derek!”

“You know exactly what that was for.”

Stiles grumbles something unkind about ungrateful werewolves and violence under his breathe. Derek just communicates via facial expression for Stiles to get inside the hospital. 

Stiles does head inside, because he’s a fantastic pack member who is helpful “Unlike some people,” he says out loud without bothering to raise his voice.

Melissa isn’t at her computer, and Stiles calls Derek to tell him that. Then Peter isn’t in his room and Derek is screaming at him to “Run! He’s the alpha! Run!”

“You must be Stiles,” a man says to his right. Stiles turns, and it’s Peter Hale. Up and moving, looking very pleased with himself. 

“Oh, man. I’m going to die.”

Stiles turns around, and a nurse is blocking the hall. Stiles is about ready to panic but then Derek is there, and he elbows the nurse so hard she drops to the ground. Stiles doesn’t know if she’s dead or unconscious and frankly, he doesn’t care. 

“That’s not very nice. She was my nurse,” Peter says because apparently he’s a dramatic asshole. Stiles almost wants to laugh. 

“She’s a crazy bitch helping you kill people.” Derek says before shoving Stiles towards the exit with a final “Run.”

Stiles doesn’t want to leave Derek, but he doesn’t know what else to do. So, he does what he’s told, and he runs. 

*** 

Stiles doesn’t hear from Derek until morning. He doesn’t sleep.

After grabbing the first feasible weapon from his jeep, he rushed back to help but by then all that was left was a lot of broken glass. 

Now his phone is ringing, and he nearly drops it before answering. “What happened?” Stiles asks. 

“We need to talk. All of us.”

“I can get Scott but what happened.”

“We’ll explain everything. Just meet us after school. I’ll text you the address.” Derek hangs up. 

Stiles has a feeling he knows who “We” is, but he doesn’t tell Scott that when he forwards the address. The last thing any of them need is Scott bringing hunters along with him.

School is tedious. Stiles spends the whole day itching to just get in his jeep and go. He feels like he’s so close to ending this whole nightmare and he’s stuck in Calculus ignoring Jackson like always. 

Scott asks a million questions on the way there, which is fair, Stiles supposes. But eventually he stops answering and just tells him to ask Derek when they get there. Mostly because that’s when he runs out of answers. 

“Since when does Derek have an apartment anyways? He’s been hiding at yours and sleeping at the Hale house since he got here.”

“I don’t think it’s Derek’s.” is all Stiles says. 

Derek buzzes them up and Stiles is proven right when they find Peter waiting for them. He’s sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table like he hasn’t a care in the world when Derek lets them in. 

“Hello,” he says with a casual little wave. 

“Your scars are gone,” Stiles says. 

“They are.”

“Not exactly subtle, is it.”

Peter shrugs.

“Who are you?” Scott asks. 

“You’re joking, right?” Stiles says.

“He’s my uncle,” Derek says like Scott is an idiot. “Peter Hale. The guy I introduced you to last week.”

“Well. What is he doing here? And isn’t he supposed to be in the hospital?”

“He’s the alpha, genius.” Stiles says, suddenly very tired. 

Peter flashes his eyes with a cheerful smile. “So wonderful to finally meet you face to face.” 

Stiles snorts at the sarcasm dripping from every word and heads to the kitchen. There’s bound to be something to eat. He stops short when he finds the nurse, or rather, her body. “Ahhh. Gross. People eat in here, you guys.” Stiles really doesn’t have it in him to be mad about much else. Call him desensitized. 

Derek is rubbing his temples when Stiles returns, Scott is shifted, and Peter is twisting his arm behind his back. 

“I’m assuming Peter isn’t the problem anymore considering Derek isn’t currently trying to rip his throat out ‘with his teeth’” Stiles asks.

“Peter is killing everyone involved with the fire. He needs a pack to take down Kate.” Derek explains. 

“Let go of me.” Scott struggles. 

“So that you can make a mess? No.” Peter says.

“So what? The big bad wolf wants to avenge his family and suddenly we’re supposed to forgive and forget the shit he’s put us through? He could have hurt my dad.”

“The good sheriff was never in any danger from me,” Peter says.

“And that night at the school? I suppose none of use were in any danger then either.”

“Mistakes were made. I’m sure we can find a way to make things right.”

“Mistakes,” stiles repeats incredulously. “Right. Yeah. Ok. Just a whoopsie daisy then. No big deal. You tried to kill me!”

“Technically, Scott tried to kill you.”

Stiles scoffs.

“Is anyone going to help me!” Scott says. 

“Peter hasn’t been in his right mind,” Derek says. “but he was aware enough to not kill me that night at the school and he’s better now.”

Scott squirms enough that something pops. Peter rolls his eyes and lets him go. Stiles rushes over to look at his shoulder, but he’s pretty sure it’s just dislocated so he turns to Derek. 

“You really trust him? After everything? After Laura?”

Derek swallows and nods. “He’s pack.”

Stiles looks at him, searching for any sign that he’s lying or too afraid to refuse Peter. When he doesn’t find any, he sighs. “Fine. But no more biting at random. And definitely no biting me. No offense, but the furry look just doesn’t really do it for me.”

“Stiles!” Scott says. 

“Come on, Scott. Let’s go get that shoulder looked at.”

Scott storms out. 

“He’ll need to learn some respect.” Peter says. 

“He might give you some if you stop twisting arms.” Stiles snaps. 

He finds Scott waiting in the car. Stiles takes him home. 

Scott doesn’t say anything.

*** 

Later that night, Stiles gets home shortly before his dad, having beaten the red light on the way home. Derek’s Camaro is in the driveway. 

Peter is waiting on the porch nice and polite like. Stiles lets him in. 

“What are doing here, Peter.”

“Taking your advice. Brute force isn’t working, and it was never really my thing anyways. I thought you might be able to help me change my wayward beta’s mind.”

“Scott isn’t interested in talking to me right now.”

“Somehow I don’t think that will stop you.”

“Stiles,” his dad calls out. He sounds too cautious to not have noticed the car outside. 

“In the living room!” he replies.

His dad walks in with his gun raised only to let it go slack when he sees Peter. Shocked, he asks, “What are you doing here?”

“John,” Peter says amicably. “It’s good to see you. I was just telling Stiles here how I’ve woken up and, to my surprise, found out my nephew is on the run for serial murder. You can understand my confusion.”

His dad puts his gun down and sighs. “I have eye-witness reports that can’t be ignored.”

“Yes. I’ve heard. I’ve also taken the liberty of reviewing them. They’re garbage. Throw them out.”

“You know I can’t do that.” 

“You can because I can provide an alibi for at least three of the murders and the night at the school. Derek was with me at the hospital.”

“I assume you have any proof ready?”

“Of course, I do. Check your email. It’s all there.”

His dad leaves with a nod, presumably to call the station. Stiles motions for Peter to follow him to the kitchen. 

Stiles busies himself with the kettle. He hears the scrape of a barstool and assumes Peter’s sat down. “Thank you.” He says quietly. “Derek doesn’t deserve to be hunted like that.”

“I look after my pack.”

“What are you really doing here? I know its not to clear Derek’s name. Could’ve done that over email or at the station. And I know you know how pissed Scott is at me right now.” 

“You agreed to be my beta but didn’t stick around long enough to make it official. I’m here to make it official.”

“So, I get to learn the secret werewolf handshake, huh.” 

The kettle whistles. Stiles pours them both a glass. “hot chocolate or tea?”

“Tea, please.” Peter takes the offered tea bag. 

“Want any honey?”

“No. This is fine.”

Stiles stirs in his cocoa and blows softly to cool it. He stays leaned over the counter, his forearms resting on either side of his glass. “I do want to make one thing clear. I’m with you because Derek is with you. And until you can convince me to care about you outside of that, I’ll follow Derek’s lead.”

Peter takes a sip of his tea. “Then I suppose I’ll need to convince you.” 

“The alibis seem to check out. Enough to remove the APB on Derek, at least. I’ll still need you to come down to the station though.” His dad says from the doorway. 

“Of course, Sheriff. I’ll be right behind you.”

“You too, Stiles.” His dad says angrily.

“Gotcha.”

Peter leans into Stiles’ space as they follow his dad to their cars. Quiet enough for his dad not to hear, he says, “I’ll need you to submit to me formally to cement the bond. Baring the neck is conventional but if you’d rather bow or accept a bite, I’m flexible.”

“You aren’t biting me, Peter.”

“I didn’t think you’d like that option, but I want to offer it, nonetheless. Just in case you change your mind.”

They part ways at the driveway. Stiles rides with his dad while Peter follows in the Camaro. Things are tense in the car. 

“I am so sick of the lies.” His dad says. 

“I didn’t lie about Derek. Scott said he saw him when he went to confront the guy attacking us. I guess he was wrong.”

His dad just sighs like he’s given up. Stiles hates it. 

*** 

“I can’t believe you!” Scott yells. 

“What did you expect me to do,” Stiles asks. They’re in the locker room after practice. The rest of the team has left. “Keep Derek on the run? We owe him big time for that, and you know it.”

“I don’t expect you to work for the alpha,” Scott hisses. “He bit me!”

“Derek trusts him. He isn’t the real enemy.”

“And we trust Derek now?”

“He has done nothing but try and help since he got here so yeah, I trust him. He’s pack.”

“You can’t be pack,” Scott scoffs. 

“Yes. I can.” Stiles says coldly. “Humans have always been just as pack as any wolf and you would know that if you would just listen to Derek.” 

“I’m not listening to some asshole who probably killed people in the first place. Have you ever wondered why Kate killed the Hales? Because it isn’t that difficult to figure out.”

Stiles does not know what to say to that, so he just looks at Scott until he leaves. 

*** 

Derek tried to talk to Scott and now he’s missing, and Stiles is freaking out. 

“This is all my fault,” Stiles says, tugging at his nonexistent hair and pacing. “I told Scott to go to him and now he could be anywhere. He could be dead. Or worse. Fuck!” Stiles shouts as he stubs his toe. 

“He isn’t dead. Our bond may not be strong enough to follow but I can still feel him,” Peter says. He coaxes Stiles closer and looks him in the eye. “We will find him, and we will kill Kate for ever laying a hand on him.”

Stiles nods and then he can’t stop because if he does then he thinks about how Derek is probably in pain right now and he can’t stop it and…

Peter forces his head to still. His hands are warm on his face and it comforts him. Stiles starts counting in multiples of seven until his breathing evens out. 

“Your bond is too weak but mine might not be.” Stiles looks to the ground and then kneels, and it feels so weird. He looks up at Peter and then higher as he bares his neck. Silence fills the room. Peter stands over him and watches for a moment. Just long enough that the strain in his neck gets uncomfortable. A clawed hand rests on his jugular and Stiles’ breath catches. 

It feels good, to his surprise. Especially when the firm grip softens and turns so that Peter is cupping his cheek, directing him to look Peter in the eyes. Peter looks far more pleased than Stiles feels is warranted, but it still relaxes him in a way it didn’t before. 

Two bonds snap into place. They aren’t much but Stiles feels pride build in him. Those are his pack and that is his alpha touching him. 

“I’ve heard it can be overwhelming for humans.” Peter says. “Can you feel us? Can you feel Derek?”

“Yes,” Stiles says, standing up. “I can feel it, but I can’t tell much. He’s alive and pissed.”

“You can feel his emotions?”

“Yes. Why? Is that weird?”

“No. It’s just stronger than I thought it would be.”

“It’s not enough though. I have no idea how to follow this anywhere.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed. That bond goes both ways.”

“He can feel me.”

“And it’s made him stronger.”

*** 

Stiles and Peter spend the next two days trying to find Derek to no avail. Scott comes over once to look for his phone. He doesn’t find it, but he does notice how much his room smells like Peter. He doesn’t say anything so much as glare at him. 

It hurts to know Scott won’t listen to him, but he kind of gets it. He wasn’t raised to think in grey and he doesn’t handle anyone telling him what to do very well. It’s not even like Stiles expects him to love Peter after everything, but what he said about Kate… 

Stiles doesn’t know how Scott could say something like that.

Peter does seem to be more settled after the first day. He’s never truly relaxed. Not with Derek still out of reach. But he’s easier to talk to, to protest to, the longer Stiles sees him. He wonders if this is what pack does for their alpha. All the questions he asked Derek and he never thought to ask if they could save the alpha. It never occurred to him that the alpha deserved saving before meeting Peter. He realizes that he doesn’t want to see Peter lose. 

Peter touches him more now that he’s submitted. Stiles is surprised by how ok he is with it. It feels nice having Peter’s hands on him. He supposes it isn’t creepy. It almost feels familial the way he rests a hand on his shoulder. Almost. Stiles isn’t an idiot. He knows that Peter wants him even if Peter might not realize it himself. 

But it doesn’t matter because Derek is still missing. 

Stiles needs help. Specifically, the help of a genius and luckily, he knows one. Unluckily, she doesn’t want anything to do with him. He has to fork up a night at the mall and at least eighty bucks for her help. 

Lydia listens to his terrible plight to find Derek and apologize and pretends to believe him. It takes five seconds after explaining the events of the last few days for her to tell him to track Scott’s phone. 

“He’s always sneaking around with him anyways. He probably took it after a fight to piss him off.”

Stiles thinks that Derek just might be a closet genius. He’s been holding out on him. 

“Lydia, you are a genius and I love you. I gotta go, bye.”

*** 

Getting to Derek is easy once they know where he is. Getting him out proves more difficult.

“Hey, sweetie,” Kate calls out. “Leaving so soon?”

Stiles freezes, Derek whines, and Peter growls. Scott is standing with Kate, and Stiles’ heart breaks. 

“Stiles,” Scott pleads, “You don’t have to do this. Just drop him and we can fix everything.”

“What are you talking about? What are you doing with that?” Stiles asks venomously.

“That’s not how you address a lady. Didn’t your mother ever teach you any manners?” Kate says, cocking her shotgun, “Scotty here is just looking for the cure.”

“There is no cure,” Peter says.

“Liar!” Scott yells. “You just don’t want to die.”

“You idiot,” Stiles says, “Let me guess. Kill the alpha and be human again? Do you honestly believe that fairytale?”

“It’s my best chance, and if you ever cared about me you would help me.”

“Don’t waste your time, Scotty.” Kate says. “He’s a traitor. Simple as that.”

Kate shoots. Stiles stumbles back from the force, not even realizing what’s happened until he’s dropped Derek and landed on top of him. Peter roars and charges at her but is intercepted by Scott. They fight but then Kate shoots Peter and he tosses Scott aside. He hits a tree hard. 

Kate rushes to reload her gun but Peter rips it from her and hits her over the head with it. She stumbles but doesn’t go down, instead laughing as she wipes the blood away. She ducks as Peter throws it at her. It goes flying into the trees and out of sight. Stiles groans in pain as Derek wakes up, pushing him off in the process. The look on his face when he sees the blood is not one Stiles wishes to see ever again. 

“Bitch shot me,” he says. “Scott is with her. Fuck, this hurts.”

“Call your dad. I’ll handle them.” Derek says and then he’s gone. Stiles has to wipe his bloody fingers on the grass until they’re clean enough to unlock his phone. Only once he’s sure an ambulance is on the way does he look back. Kate has a knife out and the wolves are doing everything in their power to avoid the blade. Poison, Stiles realizes. 

Stiles watches as they circle her, never getting too close. He braces himself and stretches to reach the gun strapped to his ankle. It hurts like hell, but he manages. He clicks off the safety and aims but before he can get a good shot, Scott is standing between them. 

“Kill him, Scott. He’s no better than the mutts at this point.”

“Move, Scott,” Stiles says. “Please.”

For a moment, Scott looks like he might, and then another shot rings out and Scott is falling. Stiles has a moment to take in the satisfied look on Kate’s face before his wolves descend. Stiles shoots her leg to keep her from running but, Derek already has her pinned down. She tries to kick away anyways. 

Peter towers over her. Stiles can’t see his face, but he can feel the mess of emotions coursing through him. The rage and the pain and the bloodlust. It’s overwhelming. 

Peter says something to her, but it’s too quiet for Stiles to hear. He rips her throat out after she answers.

Things are quiet for a moment, and then a girl screams. 

They all look over to see Allison at the edge of the trees, a bow in one hand and plyer cutters in the other. Both drop to the ground as she covers her mouth, tears streaming down. Peter moves towards her, but Derek holds him back with a hand on his arm. They watch as she rushes to Scott’s side. Black veins are spreading sluggishly from the hole in his forehead. 

“I…” She tries to say. A sob breaks through before she can swallow it down. “I came to get you out,” she says to Derek. “I heard her talking about what she was going to do to you and I-I couldn’t let her.” She sees Kate then and looks back at Scott. Shaking her head vigorously, she cries. “Did she…”

Nobody got the chance to answer. Sirens ring out. Stiles shares a look with Peter and understanding passes between them. Peter takes off into the woods, leaving Derek to help Stiles to his feet. Allison watches them and seems to pull herself together enough to drop something on Kate. 

“She bragged about the fire. My dad talked about pinning the murders on her for penance. Something about the council? He wanted to plant this necklace on her.”

She doesn’t say anything else, just sits quietly by her aunt’s side as the deputies and paramedics swarm the scene. Stiles sees his dad’s car come into view just as the door to the ambulance closes.

*** 

Chris Argent of all people is who is waiting for him when Stiles wakes up. 

He looks slightly off guard when they make eye contact which makes Stiles think he planned to leave unnoticed. 

“Checking to see if I’m still human?” Stiles asks coldly.

The smell of hospital invades his nose, making him more irritable. He hates hospitals. 

“I thought we should talk.”

“Don’t bullshit me. You wanted to see if you should finish the job. Get out.”

“Listen—”

“Get. Out.”

“I think you should listen to him,” his dad says from the doorway. “Unless you want me to call security, or better yet, a trip to the station.”

Chris leaves with what dignity he can manage. Which isn’t much. Stiles glares at him until he’s gone and then the spot he was last until his dad takes his hand. Stiles squeezes in turn. 

“Are you finally going to tell me what has been going on with you?” his dad asks. 

Stiles looks down at his lap because it’s easier than thinking of something to say.

“You were shot,” his dad says. He sounds on the edge of crying and it hurts to be the one to make it happen. “do you understand how terrifying that is? If we got there any later…”

“You didn’t.” Stiles says. “You got there just in time like I knew you would.” 

His dad squeezed his hand. “Not in time to save Scott. Why didn’t you come to me about this? I shouldn’t have to read about my son solving a conspiracy in the papers.”

“Kate murdered an entire family and paid off officials. She killed Scott. I know you wouldn’t take a bribe. Do you really think she’d let you live?”

“That’s my job to decide, not yours. I protect you. Not the other way around.”

“We protect each other.” 

There’s too much left to say but neither of them can find the words so they sit in silence and listen to the monitor sound Stiles’ heartbeat. His dad falls asleep bent over the end of his bed, still holding his hand. 

*** 

Stiles barely makes it out of the hospital in time to attend Scott’s funeral. A good crowd had formed after the news of the fire spread. The deputies helped keep most of them out of the service, but Stiles could still sense the cameras on them. 

His dad comforts Melissa for most of the service, leaving Stiles alone until Derek approaches him. Stiles smiles at him but it’s bittersweet. 

“I missed you at the hospital.” Stiles says. 

“I’m sorry. We had to clear things up with the Argents before anything else. The longer they were left alone, the more danger we all were in.”

“You don’t have to tell me. Chris was in my room when I woke up.”

“What.” Derek says, fear coursing through the bond as he not so subtly checks him over with his eyes.

“He didn’t get the chance to do anything thanks to my dad.”

“Good. That’s good.” 

Stiles feels the relief more than sees it. “Come on,” he says, “I don’t think I can handle being here any longer.” 

Derek helps wheel him to his car. Stiles waves him off when he tries to help him into it. 

“I may need to be careful, but I’m not completely useless.”

“You were shot in the stomach, Stiles. I’m allowed to be a bit overprotective.”

“Just take me to Peter so I can get shitfaced and then blame him for the hangover.” 

*** 

“For what it’s worth,” Peter says, “I’m sorry about Scott.”

“Not your fault. Just add him to the list of people you avenged, s’pose.”

“I do.”

“Hmm?” 

“Consider him avenged, I mean. As messy as things were between us, he was my bitten. And more importantly, he was important to you.”

“He was my brother, you know. Not like you ‘n Derek. We got in so much troubleeee.”

Stiles devolved into a fit of laughter. Peter snatched the near empty bottle out of his hands. “Ok. That’s enough of that, I think.”

“Noooooo.”

“Hush now, darling. Let’s get you to bed.” Peter carries Stiles to his bed despite his protests. 

“Just like you, putting teenaged boys in your bed. Creeeepy.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. Puberty doesn’t look good on anyone.”

Peter tucks Stiles in and then holds him there until he stops trying to sit up. With a huff, he gives up and lets himself sink into the softness of Peter’s new bed. 

“It’s ok.” Stiles says just as Peter was about to leave. “To want me. I know you do and it’s ok. I want you too, but not now. We’ll wait until I’m nice and grown and have so much fun together.”

Peter says, “I’ll keep that in mind,” with far more fondness than he meant to but that’s ok. Stiles will probably forget about this anyways.

He doesn’t.


End file.
